Am I over feeding?

Hi,

I have a 12 month female and an 18 month male; both are nice and healthy. I feed the female 2 small mice every 7 - 10 days and the male 2 medium mice every 7 - 10 days.

A friend of mine, who has 2 fully grown corns, has suggested I am over feeding. She feed hers 1 adult mouse every 14 days. I am convince that since mine are still growing the frequency and amount I feed them is about right. The spine on both her corns is quite promernent. Both my corns are nice and round but look muscular and you can just make out their spines.

Am I over feeding? If so what is the preferred frequency and amount? How do I know if my corn is over/under weight?

Please advise.

Rx.

It has always been suggested to me to feed one food item ie mouse or rat every 7-10 days once they are over a year old. My males eat an adult mouse every week and aren't fat or overweight at all. I couldn't imagine going 2 weeks on purpose O.o

I think you're right. Your snakes are still growing so can be on a growth diet rather than a maintenence diet. My snakes that age get one mouse that's 1½ times the size of their girth about once a week or 9 days (depending on how lazy I am!!) My adults get a mouse every 2 weeks except for females that are in pre or post breeding conditioning.

I think that really all depends on how your snakes handle the food. If you think they are underweight with their spines protruding, than maybe 2 mice is not a bad idea. But if that's how they always have looked, maybe it's just how they look. Personally, I couldn't see a corn becoming skinny while eating 2 mice a week. I feed my guy a small mouse every 6-7 days and when I drop the mouse in, he quickly devours it. I would just check how your corns react... Are they active, etc.? But I think it is ultimately up to you.

Depends on the snake and the size of the food item. A well established adult corn can do just fine on a 2 week feeding schedule with the right size food. I have 3 adults, all on 2 week schedules, and all are in good shape and even continue slow growth.

As far as the original question, hard to say without seeing the snakes and the food size, but in general I would say 2 small adult mice every 7-10 days may be a bit much. It's ultimately your call though, and hard for anyone else to say without a first hand look at things.

The analogy I've heard the most is that a healthy snake should have a 'loaf of bread' shape, rounder than this is possibly overweight. It's a rule of thumb for me but of course not every snake conforms to the rule.
Something Carol posted kind of stuck with me and now I try to give them a couple of days of 'looking for food' to get exercise before feeding them again. I feed once a week but if I have a 'cage potato' snake that doesn't cruise around much I might skip a week here and there so they get some exercise too. Two snakes the same size and weight might have different requirements, if one is much more active for instance.

*steals Jen's black kitty* mwa ha ha!

All of my adults at breeding age eat once every 5-7 days a large mouse. If I give them two smaller mice (say after egg laying) then I feed them every 7-10 days. All of my hatchling-yearling age corns eat every 3-5 days to keep them growing.
So far I have never had an overweight or underweight corn. All 50+ of them are healthy and happy.

For excercise they are given a swim in the bath tub at least once ever week which works out great for them. They seem to like swimming as long as the water is room temp.